HbBpetospbemum.] CUCURBITACEM 365 



Stems slender, extensively climbing, more or less scabrous and woolly; 

 tendrils 2-4-fid. Leaves 3 by 2 in., ovate-oblong*, cordate, acute, sinuate- 

 dentate, not lobedj rigid, rough on both surfaces ; petiole f in. Flowers 

 dioecious. Male fioivers notracemed, woolly outside. Calyx-tuhe If in., 

 narrow ; teeth linear, erect. Anthers free. Fruit 2-85 in., oblong or 

 nearly spherical, acute, smooth, orange-red when ripe. Seeds ^-ellipsoid, 

 compressed, corrugated on the margin. 



<Jommon within the area, both wild and cultivated. Distrib. Through- 

 out the plains of N.India extending to Assam and E.Bengal. It is 

 grown during the rainy season, and the fruit, which is cooked in a variety 

 of ways, is considered to be a very wholesome vegetable. The root, 

 leaves and the juice of the fruit are used medicinally. 



2. HERPETOSPERMUM, Wall. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii, 613. 



Extensively scandent, tendrils 2-3-fid. Leaves long-petioled, cor- 

 date, ovate, little lobed. Flowers large, yellow, dicecious ; males 

 frequently on two peduncles from one axil, one early deciduous 1- 

 flowered, the other racemose without bracts ; females solitary on very 

 short peduncles. Maly.: Cali/x-lube elongate, cylindiic at the base, 

 above narrow and funnel-shaped; teeth 5, long, linear; petals 5, 

 elliptic, nearly separate, entire ; stamens 3 ; anthers connate, included, 

 one 1-celled, two 2-celied, cells conduplicate. Female : Calyx and 

 corolla as in the male. Ovary oblong, 3-celled ; style long, with three 

 oblong bifid stigmatic lobes ; ovules pendulous, 4-6 in each cell. Fruit, 

 broad-oblong, narrowed at both ends, 3-angular, irregularly sinuate- 

 costate ; valves 3, separating from the axis nearly to the base. Seeds, 

 in 2 rows in each cell, flat, oblong, pendulous, the lower end corrugate 

 or almost 3-lobed.— A single species. 



- H. caudigerum. Wall. Cat. 6761; F. B. I. ii, 613 ; Cogn,inDC. Mon. 



Phan. Hi, 404. 



Stem slender, angled, more or less pubescent. Leaves 4-6 in. in diam. 

 acuminate, crenate-dentate, sparingly pubescent on both sides, or almost 

 glabrous ; petiole 2-4 in. Male peduncle 8 in.; pedicels I in., ebracteate, 

 villous. Calyx-tube about 1 in., pubescent; teeth erect, subfiliform. 

 Petals acute, gland.-punctate outside. Anthers included in the calyx- 

 tube. Eudiment of ovary in male-flower linear. Fruit 3 by I5 in., 3- 

 valved almost to the base, sparingly pubescent. Seeds 12-18, in fibrous 

 juiceless pulp, i in. long, pale-brown. 



Dehra Dun (King), Distbib. Temp. Himalaya from Simla to Bhutan, 

 and on the Khp-sia Hills. 



3. LAGENARIA, Seringe ; Fl. Brit. Ind. ii, 613. 



Large pubescent climbers ; tendrils 2-fid. Leaves ovate or orbi- 

 cular, cordate, dentate ; petiole long, with 2 glands at its apex. 



